ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

Truus' musical career spans over the last 3 decades. Born in Eindhoven , The Netherlands, she debuted as a chanteuse just at the beginning of the Punk craze in 1976. Playing in a number of Dutch bands she released her first single in 1979 with a duet called Plus Instruments. Playing odd electronic instruments and vocals most of their performances were improvised. She teamed up Michel Waiszvich the inventor of the Crackle Synthesizer in numerous performances. At the same time she was also the lead singer in the popular Dutch New Wave Band "Nasmak" (who released an album in 1980). After hundreds of performances all through Europe Truus was looking for more challenges and in 1981 got on a plane to NYC never to call the Netherlands her home again. Armed with background tapes of percussion fabricated with anything from pots and pans to a tampax box and then amplified she reformed Plus Instruments with Lee Renaldo (now in Sonic Youth) on guitar and David Linton on Drums. Truus played Bass and sang Lead Vocals and they played along with these very crass sounding rhythm tracks. With this line-up they hit the New York club scene, released an Album and on to a European Tour. After returning to the US Truus again reformed the band with a number of musicians and was always very active on the club scene both in NY and Europe. At the same time she worked on her solo career performing at the famed "Kitchen" in Soho, and playing with Rhys Chatham. In 1983 she hooked up with James Sclavunos ( Lydia Lunch, Sonic Youth, the Cramps, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and now his very own "Vanity Set") to start a completely new chapter. She took a U-turn from the Electronic Euro-improvised Beat and temporarily moved to Memphis to start Trigger & the Thrill Kings with Jim Duckworth (Gun Club) playing a very raunchy Blues, country rockabilly mix. Again they toured throughout Europe and the US and released various records. After so many years of touring, and numerous record releases, TV and Radio performances she decided to quit the music business in the late 80s. Throughout the years she has been creating and recording her music. Some of the songs were recorded by The Vanity Set (James Scalvunos new band). In 1998 she married renowned artist Bosko and moved to Escondido, CA. Inspired by Bosko's love for Polynesian Pop and encouraged by him to share her creations with the world, she finally decided to release a brand new CD entitled "Muzotica" in 2000, with a follow-up in 2005 "Rancho Exotica". The latest offering (2009) is "Ritualis". All feature a unique take on Exotica Music.

REVIEW by BeachBum Berry:

HIGHBALL FIDELITY

Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman, Les Baxter, Yma Sumac, Bas Sheva, Korla Pandit — the gods and goddesses of midcentury exotica music have all gone to their eternal reward, but not before leaving us with a copious catalogue of Tiki tunage. With this genre, familiarity breeds content: we could listen to Denny’s “Afrodesia,” to take just one example, until the canoes come home.
A new generation of exotica musicians apparently feels the same way; retro-minded stylists such as the conservatory trained jazzbos Waitiki, the Esquivel-obsessed Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica, and the hyperkinetic Tikiyaki Orchestra all create neo-exotica music that not only celebrates the work of their idols, but often tops it.

The current queen of Oceanic easy listening is a former punk rocker from Holland named Truus. Her new CD, Ritualis, goes beyond the mythopoetic rhythms of her previous releases, Muzotica and Rancho Exotica. Way beyond. How to describe its soothing yet unsettling sound? Its hypnoxotic, entropical air of zombacious Melanesiancholy?
Ritualis is a dream of mysterious things that go bump in the Jungian night, conjuring ancient tribal tones from our collective unconscious and freighting them with lyrics full of modern longing for primitive passion. In other words, it’s music to Mai Tai by.

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